Welcome to the Air Cargo (non Amazon/DHL) Thread - 2022. Please continue to add your comments below

Link to last thread

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1456521

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-59824408

Hard to watch the death of Cathay and HK play out. Parked 747Fs, while the rest of Sutter's Creations carry the world on their shoulders.

Happy New Year to Everyone. I look forward to a great 2022 and what it shall bring to our wonderful conversation.

CX747 wrote:

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-59824408

Hard to watch the death of Cathay and HK play out. Parked 747Fs, while the rest of Sutter's Creations carry the world on their shoulders.

Happy New Year to Everyone. I look forward to a great 2022 and what it shall bring to our wonderful conversation.

Happy New Year to you and all the friends on this board. I agree re CX, it is the slow strangulation of a fine airline and global trading port. Sad to watch.

The advantage of foreign flag carriers serving HKG as a turnaround port is enormous. The volume of traffic using Japan, ICN etc before doing turnarounds to HKG and getting out of dodge as quick as the loaders will let them is amazing right now.

Happy New Year to all my friends on this thread. We have made it through two interesting years together, and let's hope 2022 is just as exciting, maybe somewhat less dramatic, but every bit as fun!

Great people, great discussion, great thread.
Wish all of A.net were as civil…..

As for CX being made to ground 747Fs….we’ll that shows you the complete lunatics running the asylum.

We got to 3000 replies last thread. Here's to 6000 for this year!

Anyways, let's see, this year the 747-8F will end production. Perhaps a big bow-out for the cargo industry. There's still a considerable difference between an A350F and the Antonovs. The 747F shall forever fill that gap.

All hail our queen!!

With the previous thread being 60-something pages long, would it be worth splitting these threads into Q1/Q2/Q3/Q4? Might be make it easier to find things that were previously posted if it was structured like this.

I had typed up about half of the December edition of "Preighter Watch" before I ran out of time due to Christmas. Am now firmly on holiday so it will have to wait a week or so before I complete and post it. Notable events includes the entry of two new players: Lithuania's Heston Airlines and AirHub Airlines (which also appears to be Lithuanian even though it operates with a Maltese AOC). Obviously the big change for the Preighter operators now is that China has largely banned preighter ops, starting today.

I've really enjoyed the Air Cargo threads last year. Thankyou everyone who contributes and, as wjcandee often mentions it's nice to have a much more friendly and relaxed atmosphere here than other parts of the forums.

Anyone want to discuss predictions and hopes for the year ahead?

Predictions:

- Demand on the Air Cargo sector being every bit as strong as it was in 2021.
- 737-800BCF program going from strength to strength with huge numbers of aircraft entering conversion and being redelivered.
- Good sales of the A350F, including a key strategic sale to someone like Cargolux.
- DHL quietly buying more A333s and having them converted and put into service with EAT.
- Four Western Global Airlines aircraft being simultaneously unserviceable at ANC at some point during the year.
- More outsourcing of DHL flying from EAT to SmartLynx, CargoAir etc.
- SF Airlines to order some 777Fs. Let's say four.

Hopes:

- A321/A320 conversion pace to pick up substantially. Obviously the 737NG has the advantage in the cargo market due to the incumbency of the 737Classic freighters, but the pace of A321 conversions should really be picking up a lot.
- Our favorite DC8s to remain in service as long as possible.
- More A340 Preighters to enter service. Seeing the A340 finally getting some (well deserved) love was definitely my highlight of last year. Would be fantastic if some of the Lufthansa -600s that aren't being returned to service could join the Air Atlanta Icelandic fleet.
- EFW to begin an A340P2F program.
- Lufthansa Cargo to successfully build up narrowbody dedicated freighter network. They're converting four(?) Eurowings A321s for this but hopefully this is successful and can be expanded greatly. Would love to see Air France do the same with their old A321s.
- My favorite Star Air 767-200 (third plane I ever flew on) to stay in service as long as possible.
- The nice and generic, "more dedicated freighter services to my local airport".
- NCA ordering some 777Fs (or XFs if that gets launched).
- A really nice special livery for the last 747 to roll off the production line.
- Cathay Pacific undertaking some P2F conversions for some of their A330s. They're probably lacking the cash to do so....but freight revenue seems to be all that's keeping the wolves from the door right now.


Anyway, back to being on holiday.... Happy New Year everyone.

zkojq wrote:

- Four Western Global Airlines aircraft being simultaneously unserviceable at ANC at some point during the year.

O M G!!
Made my day.

A lovely, thoughtful, insightful post.

May your wishes be fulfilled, and the most-positive of your predictions come true! HAPPY NEW YEAR, our friend!

TUGMASTER wrote:

Great people, great discussion, great thread.
Wish all of A.net were as civil…..

As for CX being made to ground 747Fs….we’ll that shows you the complete lunatics running the asylum.

Yes, we discuss here without food fights and similar teenage antics. It is quite nice.

Happy New Years to everyone on this thread, may it be a great year for Air Cargo.

Sad to see the 748F production about to sunset, it's been a great run. Yes the 744 / 748 factory freighters will be around for decades, there may be a point where larger no longer exist. We'll also be watching a lot of older models gracefully exit, soon no more McD crafts will remain.

Possibly in a decade or so there will be a new large freighter, something that can replace both the 747 and the C-17, except without the tactical capability of the C-17, limited to commercial runways.

Seeing the fall of Hong Kong along with its airlines is quite sad.

wjcandee wrote:

zkojq wrote:

- Four Western Global Airlines aircraft being simultaneously unserviceable at ANC at some point during the year.

O M G!!
Made my day.

A lovely, thoughtful, insightful post.

May your wishes be fulfilled, and the most-positive of your predictions come true! HAPPY NEW YEAR, our friend!

That's SOP at WGA.

Recent upload of triholer cargo action at SJU. Come for the IFL 722 rockets, stay for the Western Global FrankenMaddog. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cvPL8cPRcn8

Spacepope wrote:

Recent upload of triholer cargo action at SJU. Come for the IFL 722 rockets, stay for the Western Global FrankenMaddog. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cvPL8cPRcn8

Those 727’s really blasted off the deck! Brings back a lot of memories. Thanks.

Happy new year .

The last active 747-300SF (classic) is still going strong !

TransAviaExport Airlines B747-329SF (EW-465TQ) taxiing out for its flight from Mumbai to Moscow (ZIA) as TXC9737 on a hazy afternoon.

EW-465TQ, Mumbai (BOM / VABB), December 21th 2021




Original uploaded by IndianSpotter at twitter, see : https://twitter.com/Indian_Spotter/stat ... 7329615873

Spacepope wrote:

Recent upload of triholer cargo action at SJU. Come for the IFL 722 rockets, stay for the Western Global FrankenMaddog. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cvPL8cPRcn8

Very-nice. Enjoyed it!

I was going to say "Noice", but I'm not sure too many on here are regular viewers of Tacoma FD or Crocodile Dundee.

747Classic: Great Find! Glad to see her moving, particularly on an important trade route.

My predictions:

One cargo carrier will be bought outright from CAM.

Western global will have two aircraft out of service at A combo of outstations at the same time

Amerijet will continue to grow as will Skylease

AC will either add more 767's to its F portfolio or add a new type to expand

Be interesting to see if SY and Mesa grow and get increase flying and additional aircraft

FX orders more 763F's and purchases 773SF's

Hunter

A prediction of mine:

FedEx or UPS will make retirement orders for their MD-11’s

FedEx or UPS Will place an order for the A350F

Qatar will make a decision for 777xf or finish lawsuit and order A350F

Someone that’s not mammoth will open a cargo (door) conversion line for some version of 777-200

Cardude2 wrote:

Someone that’s not mammoth will open a cargo (door) conversion line for some version of 777-200

I'm having fun watching the predictions, because it's cool to see how engaged our members are in this subject!

On this one, I just wanted to mention that you're right, there's no formal announcement or invitation of/by anyone else to do this, but there is a little *hint* at least that IAI is going to go there. When the announcement came that Sharp Technics K, IAI, and the ICN Airport Authority had signed a memorandum of understanding (which isn't quite a formal enforceable contract) for Sharp to convert up to 6 777s per year at ICN, they did mention the 777-300ER (the "Big Twin"), but also mentioned the 777-200LR as an airframe that was going to be converted. We really hadn't seen much from IAI or GECAS (IAI's development partner) about the -200, so that raised eyebrows. I'm thinking that this was aspirational at the moment, but it's an indication of the direction that IAI wants to take. It may also have been designed as shot across the bow of the Mammoth folks, who were yakking about them being the only -200 converters. So I guess folks who want a -200 conversion can at least give IAI a call.

One reason that Mammoth may be focusing on the -200LR is that one of its backers bought ten of them to convert.

IAI began cutting metal in mid-August and was talking about 130 days to have the prototype ready to test. Which means they should be rolling something out shortly if they're on track.

In comparison, think that Mammoth's purported intent to have an STC by mid-2022 sounds a bit unrealistic, but we'll see...

The US FedEx feeders took delivery of the first three ATR 72-600s last year (Empire in May, IFL in August and September). I wonder why they haven't entered service yet? I see the Empire aircraft made a test flight last Wednesday; first flight I've seen with Empire.

Fleet Movement January 3, 2022:
1. Airbus A321 -211 1988 D-AEUA Lufthansa Technik ferried 23/28-29dec21 QLA-HAM-MLA-MCT-XSP for freighter conversion ex OE-LCG

2. Boeing 737 -86N(F) 28595 285 2-BTPO BBAM Aircraft Leasing ferried 01jan22 TNA-FRU-TBS on delivery to? ex N285BB

3. Boeing 737 -8V3 29670 1711 LZ-GNK Genesis Lease ferried 28-30dec21 VNO-NQZ-CAN, for freighter conversion ex VT-SLI

4. Boeing 737 -84P 32604 1191 2-GOTG Aledbaran Aviation ferried 28-30dec21 MPL-NQZ-XMN, for freighter conversion ex OM-GTG

5. Boeing 737 -8EH(F) 34966 2367 9M- Kargo Express air-test 30dec21 at PVG, N-reg prior delivery ex N249GE

6. Boeing 757 -23N(F) 27975 779 OE-LND DHL Air Austria regd 28dec21, posn 30dec21 BUD-LEJ after transfer ex G-DHKD

7. Boeing 757 -223(F) 29428 837 OE-LNW DHL Air Austria re-regd 27dec21 on transfer at EMA ex G-DHKT

8. Boeing 757 -223(F) 31308 998 OE-LNQ at LEJ ex G-DHKN

9. Boeing 777 -212 32335 415 N940BC Eastern Airlines delivery 29dec21 VCV-MCI ex 9V-SVJ

10. Boeing 777 F 67033 1708 B-16789 Eva Air delivery 27dec21 PAE-TPE

11. Douglas DC-9 -15F 47152 170 XA- Aeronaves TSM delivery 29dec21 OSC-SHV-SLW, N-reg ex N917CK

12. MD Douglas MD-11 F 48801 640 N649FE FedEx posn 30dec21 VCV-LAX ex D-ALCH


Source: https://www.skyliner-aviation.de/regdb. ... av4&page=1
Any error is much regretted

Happy New Year to all! May the New Year finds everyone safe and sound! Hope Year 2022 will be kinder to everyone.

Cardude2 wrote:

A prediction of mine:

FedEx or UPS will make retirement orders for their MD-11’s

FedEx or UPS Will place an order for the A350F

Qatar will make a decision for 777xf or finish lawsuit and order A350F

Someone that’s not mammoth will open a cargo (door) conversion line for some version of 777-200

With the addition of new member N649FE( And there may be N647FE or even 646 648 that may be added in the future ). I believe FX will continue to use MD-11 for 5-10 years.

ChingwangLee wrote:

Cardude2 wrote:

A prediction of mine:

FedEx or UPS will make retirement orders for their MD-11’s

FedEx or UPS Will place an order for the A350F

Qatar will make a decision for 777xf or finish lawsuit and order A350F

Someone that’s not mammoth will open a cargo (door) conversion line for some version of 777-200

With the addition of new member N649FE( And there may be N647FE or even 646 648 that may be added in the future ). I believe FX will continue to use MD-11 for 5-10 years.

The same is valid for UPS : five (5) ex LH MD11F's (N261UP - 265UP) added in 2020 and 2021.

747classic wrote:

ChingwangLee wrote:

Cardude2 wrote:

A prediction of mine:

FedEx or UPS will make retirement orders for their MD-11’s

FedEx or UPS Will place an order for the A350F

Qatar will make a decision for 777xf or finish lawsuit and order A350F

Someone that’s not mammoth will open a cargo (door) conversion line for some version of 777-200

With the addition of new member N649FE( And there may be N647FE or even 646 648 that may be added in the future ). I believe FX will continue to use MD-11 for 5-10 years.

The same is valid for UPS : five (5) ex LH MD11F's (N261UP - 265UP) added in 2020 and 2021.

The FedEx APAC HUB in Guangzhou has only 7 E-class gates that can park at 777. If all MD-11 retired. APAC HUB will not have enough gates to park all especially long-range flights.

Cardude2 wrote:

A prediction of mine:

FedEx or UPS will make retirement orders for their MD-11’s

FedEx or UPS Will place an order for the A350F

Qatar will make a decision for 777xf or finish lawsuit and order A350F

Someone that’s not mammoth will open a cargo (door) conversion line for some version of 777-200

5X will have the MD’s until at least 2030.

If they could get some more 767s, I’m sure they’d grab a few more. But on the long haul side of it, I don’t think there will be anything for a few more years. They have time and the MD-11s still have a lot of life in them.

Not to mention they invested a lot (most notably tethering) to utilize the fleet domestically the last few years.

airsmiles wrote:

Spacepope wrote:

Recent upload of triholer cargo action at SJU. Come for the IFL 722 rockets, stay for the Western Global FrankenMaddog. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cvPL8cPRcn8

Those 727’s really blasted off the deck! Brings back a lot of memories. Thanks.

The IFL Super 727s are real rockets. No freight and light on the gas is straight to 20 degrees nose up on rotation. No need to pause at 7-8 degrees nose up to see if she wants to fly! Can climb to 38,000 feet in about 16 minutes too as long as atc cooperates. N215WE is in the air now on her first post peak trip.

MO11 wrote:

The US FedEx feeders took delivery of the first three ATR 72-600s last year (Empire in May, IFL in August and September). I wonder why they haven't entered service yet? I see the Empire aircraft made a test flight last Wednesday; first flight I've seen with Empire.

The ATR72s for IFL are sitting in PTK ready to go. They are running a 42 down in MIA currently. It’s nice to see the brand new ATRs parked alongside the 70+ year old Convairs they are replacing.

FlyMKG

ChingwangLee wrote:

747classic wrote:

ChingwangLee wrote:

With the addition of new member N649FE( And there may be N647FE or even 646 648 that may be added in the future ). I believe FX will continue to use MD-11 for 5-10 years.

The same is valid for UPS : five (5) ex LH MD11F's (N261UP - 265UP) added in 2020 and 2021.

The FedEx APAC HUB in Guangzhou has only 7 E-class gates that can park at 777. If all MD-11 retired. APAC HUB will not have enough gates to park all especially long-range flights.

what about UPS on gate constraints?

Cardude2 wrote:

ChingwangLee wrote:

747classic wrote:

The same is valid for UPS : five (5) ex LH MD11F's (N261UP - 265UP) added in 2020 and 2021.

The FedEx APAC HUB in Guangzhou has only 7 E-class gates that can park at 777. If all MD-11 retired. APAC HUB will not have enough gates to park all especially long-range flights.

what about UPS on gate constraints?

UPS is using the 767 on transpacific routes now, so if they need to swap out, the replacement should still fit.

Cardude2 wrote:

ChingwangLee wrote:

747classic wrote:

The same is valid for UPS : five (5) ex LH MD11F's (N261UP - 265UP) added in 2020 and 2021.

The FedEx APAC HUB in Guangzhou has only 7 E-class gates that can park at 777. If all MD-11 retired. APAC HUB will not have enough gates to park all especially long-range flights.

what about UPS on gate constraints?

Whether it is range or payload, 767 is far behind MD-11.

Spacepope wrote:

Cardude2 wrote:

ChingwangLee wrote:

The FedEx APAC HUB in Guangzhou has only 7 E-class gates that can park at 777. If all MD-11 retired. APAC HUB will not have enough gates to park all especially long-range flights.

what about UPS on gate constraints?

UPS is using the 767 on transpacific routes now, so if they need to swap out, the replacement should still fit.

UPS's 763 needs to stop through ICN or NRT/KIX on the Pacific route. Therefore, I don't think the 763F of FX can fly the existing flight FX159/6011/6021/9837 under standard operating conditions without increasing the stoppage. Therefore, the status of MD-11 cannot be replaced by 763F.

772F is the obvious MD11F replacement.
Have Boeing set an end date for the 772F yet..??
Or the 77WERBDSF, or whatever it’s called, surely that’s gotta be a contender ..?

TUGMASTER wrote:

772F is the obvious MD11F replacement.
Have Boeing set an end date for the 772F yet..??
Or the 77WERBDSF, or whatever it’s called, surely that’s gotta be a contender ..?

Both the 777F and the P-F converted 777-300ER are wingspan limited (too large wingspan ) for the current MD11F parking positions , as many times mentioned in this thread.

TUGMASTER wrote:

772F is the obvious MD11F replacement.
Have Boeing set an end date for the 772F yet..??
Or the 77WERBDSF, or whatever it’s called, surely that’s gotta be a contender ..?

Can't the 777F carry a slightly more payload and has greater range? And also, isn't the 777F more often used on long haul sectors and the MD-11F can be used on both shorter and longer sectors? No to mention the wingspan issue...

747classic wrote:

TUGMASTER wrote:

772F is the obvious MD11F replacement.
Have Boeing set an end date for the 772F yet..??
Or the 77WERBDSF, or whatever it’s called, surely that’s gotta be a contender ..?

Both the 777F and the P-F converted 777-300ER are wingspan limited (too large wingspan ) for the current MD11F parking positions , as many times mentioned in this thread.

Doh… knew that, Completely slipped my mind.

ChingwangLee wrote:

Spacepope wrote:

Cardude2 wrote:

what about UPS on gate constraints?

UPS is using the 767 on transpacific routes now, so if they need to swap out, the replacement should still fit.

UPS's 763 needs to stop through ICN or NRT/KIX on the Pacific route. Therefore, I don't think the 763F of FX can fly the existing flight FX159/6011/6021/9837 under standard operating conditions without increasing the stoppage. Therefore, the status of MD-11 cannot be replaced by 763F.

Oh for sure it's not a 1 for 1 replacement, but the 763 can be used on these Transpac runs if needed and the destination is gate limited due to wingspan. Just load up the smaller freighter with premium freight.

Spacepope wrote:

ChingwangLee wrote:

Spacepope wrote:

UPS is using the 767 on transpacific routes now, so if they need to swap out, the replacement should still fit.

UPS's 763 needs to stop through ICN or NRT/KIX on the Pacific route. Therefore, I don't think the 763F of FX can fly the existing flight FX159/6011/6021/9837 under standard operating conditions without increasing the stoppage. Therefore, the status of MD-11 cannot be replaced by 763F.

Oh for sure it's not a 1 for 1 replacement, but the 763 can be used on these Transpac runs if needed and the destination is gate limited due to wingspan. Just load up the smaller freighter with premium freight.

and the rest can be replaced by something with a larger wingspan

ChingwangLee wrote:

The FedEx APAC HUB in Guangzhou has only 7 E-class gates that can park at 777. If all MD-11 retired. APAC HUB will not have enough gates to park all especially long-range flights.

Gates can be re-arranged when justified. Probably takes a few weeks' work.

BHRN wrote:

ChingwangLee wrote:

The FedEx APAC HUB in Guangzhou has only 7 E-class gates that can park at 777. If all MD-11 retired. APAC HUB will not have enough gates to park all especially long-range flights.

Gates can be re-arranged when justified. Probably takes a few weeks' work.

If your are space limited (e.g. the main hub for UPS : SDF and main hub for FedEx : MEM) re-arrangment to more 777 parking positions i.s.o. A300/757/767/MD11 positions will be very costly and will lower the number of parking positions (at the same space), reducing the number of flights/day.
If there is no space limitation you can add more 777 parking positions at limited costs, but if the main hubs are not upgraded , replacement of the very flexibel MD11F by another aircaft type with a larger wingspan will be a challenge.

Are SDF & MEM space constrained, with regard to adding extra stands…?
That would be the cheapest way.

Some backgrond info :
The 757F, 767F, A300-600F, and MD11F are all cat D aircraft (wingspan 36 m but < 52 m)
747-400F, 777F, 777-300ERSF, are cat E aircraft (wingspan 52 m but < 65 m )

Note : A future 767-400ERF/GEnx (with raked wingtips) will have a wingspan of 51,99 m, just below the max limit for Cat D.
IMHO the best replacement for the MD11F (especially for UPS), after 2027 (new regulations).

TUGMASTER wrote:

Are SDF & MEM space constrained, with regard to adding extra stands…?
That would be the cheapest way.

There's nowhere to add extra stands, both are very built out and already cramped. It would benefit A/B to design aircraft based on these gate constraints rather than punt on their largest constituents and focus on general cargo carriers who park on common-use stands and order aircraft by the threes and fives.

747classic wrote:

Some backgrond info :
The 757F, 767F, A300-600F, and MD11F are all cat D aircraft (wingspan 36 m but < 52 m)
747-400F, 777F, 777-300ERSF, are cat E aircraft (wingspan 52 m but < 65 m )

Note : A future 767-400ERF/GEnx (with raked wingtips) will have a wingspan of 51,99 m, just below the max limit for Cat D.
IMHO the best replacement for the MD11F (especially for UPS), after 2027 (new regulations).

For FX as well. FedEx is by far the largest operator of the 767-300F and will continue to be, and commonality with the 767-400ERF would be too great a benefit to overlook. The 763F is already 80% the usable volume of the MD11F, a 764F would be pretty much right on the money as far as 1-for-1.

For UPS there is one extra benefit when the 767-400ERF would be selected as a future MD11F replacement :
Beside mixed flying with the current 757/767 fleet (same type rating), the GEnx-2B engine is already present in the UPS inventory, powering the UPS 747-8 fleet with 112 engines (28x4).

A nice little surprise:

According to planespotters.net a Boeing 777-300ER (LN 761, ex A6-ECN with Emirates) has just been delivered to Iceland's Bluebird Cargo. I assume that the intention is for it to be converted, once the IAI program is certified. Bluebird Cargo is owned by Avia Solutions Group, whom also owns Magma Aviation. As such, I'd expect it to eventually operate for them - likely replacing one of the wet-leased Air Atlanta Icelandic Boeing 747-400BCFs. Of course it could also be a shorter term arrangement with the airplane simply operating as a Preighter. Or maybe both with it operating that way until such a time that a conversion slot becomes available.

Bluebird Cargo certainly wasn't a carrier I expected to see operating the 777. Hope the year yields more surprises like this.

So here's a question for the experts in here: where is Longtail Aviation actually from? I mean yeah, their planes are registered in Bermuda, but so are everybody's, where do they actually base their airplanes and have their offices?

Newark727 wrote:

So here's a question for the experts in here: where is Longtail Aviation actually from? I mean yeah, their planes are registered in Bermuda, but so are everybody's, where do they actually base their airplanes and have their offices?

I can’t answer re: Longtail, but it is not true that “everybody’s” planes are registered in Bermuda. Some? Yes. Lessors will and Russian airlines come to mind. But it’s hardly the dominant or even really important airplane registration nation.

Well, with the head of National saying that he could fill 10 744 converted freighters if he could put his hands on them, let's see how our friends over at WGN are doing, given that they have a bunch of long-distance widebody freighter aircraft in their stable. And of course, our friends at SkyLease just keep flying and flying and flying. Utilization is also solid at ATC, GeoSky, and Longtail.

So given that WGN has aircraft, let's look at their utilization.

411SN SHV (Maintenance Base) since 10/15/21 (almost 3 months)
412SN LAX since Jan 2 (3+ days)
415JN HSV since 12/29 (7+ days)
512JN ICN since 12/30 (7+ days)
513SN TPE since 1/4 (going into heavy maint)
581JN Flying Asia. Just arrived ICN.
799JN ICN for 24+ hours.
542KD Flying Asia. En route ANC from ICN.
543JN Flying Asia. En route ANC from ICN.
545JN Flying Asia. En route ICN from ANC.
546JN SHV since 1/1 (return shop visit)
781SN Flying Asia. At ANC for 12+ hours, arrived from ICN.

So 5 of 12 MD11s actively flying, maybe 6. 2 clearly in maintenance, 1 in a perhaps-quick shop visit, and 3 just sitting for days or weeks. If the business is there, sad they're not flying.

(Thoughts: Interesting that 546 is in the shop again. Middle of 2021 she went through a heavy-check in TPE. Flew for a while after that, then unconfirmed rumour was she arrived at ANC from ICN on November 13th with a significant fuel discrepancy, and some structural issues were discovered that had led to a fuel leak, which may have been growing. She spent a full month at ANC, to December 12th, then flew to SHV, where she continued to be worked on until December 22nd, whereupon she was put back in service, including Transpacific. On 1/1/22, she came back to SHV from LAX. Good to see, I think, that they're continuing to send these ships to Evergreen in TPE to be heavy-checked, rather than trying to have all that work done at SHV, which wasn't working out, it appears. Finally, even when these aircraft are technically-flying, they sit a lot. Whereas SkyLease is flying ANC-China, turning in a couple of hours, and flying back to ANC, with very little moss under the wheels, a typical WGN route involves more stops, and more time at stops, such that in a given week the other carrier can put in a few more round-trips.)


344KD Flying Asia. Enroute HKG-ANC
356KD LAX since 12/28 (9 days).
258SN Flying Asia. Enroute HKG-ANC.
452SN ICN since 1/3/22 (3+ days).

So 2 of 4 747-400s actively-flying. A veteran one and the ex-Atlas factory-F. The other two, including the newly-pieced-together one, down for many days.

jbs2886 wrote:

Newark727 wrote:

So here's a question for the experts in here: where is Longtail Aviation actually from? I mean yeah, their planes are registered in Bermuda, but so are everybody's, where do they actually base their airplanes and have their offices?

I can’t answer re: Longtail, but it is not true that “everybody’s” planes are registered in Bermuda. Some? Yes. Lessors will and Russian airlines come to mind. But it’s hardly the dominant or even really important airplane registration nation.

I think the key is that Longtail is the only actual airline whose AOC is issued by Bermuda, at least that's what they say. Their headquarters is in St. George's, Bermuda. https://www.longtailaviation.com/

Aquiline, however, is their maintenance arranger/provider, so there's at least a connection to these Middle East companies.

Looks like SoCal will be getting some rare metal tomorrow....
Air Namibia A330-200 D-AAAS filed LDE-SBD 9:30AM - 12:40PM.
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/d-aaas

Air Namibia A330-200 D-AAAQ filed LDE-SBD 10AM - 1:12PM.
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/d-aaaq

Pretty interesting because there were several rumors claiming that these jets would be converted to freighters.....strange to send them to SBD for anything besides scrapping (although maybe unlikely since these frames are so young???). Just will have to wait and see...

Atlas Orders 4 more 777Fs, looks like I might have to bid over to the triple at the end of the year.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-release ... 55224.html

Atlas Air just ordered 4 new 777Fs.

VCVSpotter wrote:

Looks like SoCal will be getting some rare metal tomorrow....
Air Namibia A330-200 D-AAAS filed LDE-SBD 9:30AM - 12:40PM.
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/d-aaas

Air Namibia A330-200 D-AAAQ filed LDE-SBD 10AM - 1:12PM.
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/d-aaaq

Pretty interesting because there were several rumors claiming that these jets would be converted to freighters.....strange to send them to SBD for anything besides scrapping (although maybe unlikely since these frames are so young???). Just will have to wait and see...

An interesting move. Remind me, weren't some of these 744 freighters that were pieced together at VCV/similar places ferried to SBD for additional mx work before heading off to other shops or am I misremembering some of the flurry of activity of the last year?

The market is certainly dynamic now, and we're seeing conversion house capacity drive a lot of decisions here. I guess we wait and see what happens to these two. A recent video had shown them stored in Europe (I think at Leipzig), looking better than the Volga Dnepr AN-124s there that had a grand total of one engine partly mounted between the two aircraft.